Q&A: Women's national team coach Katey Stone

After trailblazing her way
through the college hockey ranks, Katey Stone is ready to do so in
Olympic competition.

Stone (Watertown, Conn.) became
involved in the U.S. Women’s National Team program in 2006.
She was elevated to head coach after the 2010 Olympic Winter Games
and will be leading her first Olympic team into competition in
February at Sochi, Russia. Stone will become the first woman
to serve as head coach in the 16 years of women’s
hockey’s full participation as an Olympic sport.

Stone has taken a year off her
usual head coaching position at Harvard University, leaving the
reins to assistant Maura Crowell. Stone is training her 25-player
roster at at The Edge Sports Center in Bedford, Mass., and is
preparing them with a wide range of games against both
international and domestic opponents before cutting down the roster
to 18 skaters and three goalies for a New Year’s Day
announcement.

While Stone is playing coy on
the merits and strengths of her individual players, she opened up
in a recent interview about how her team needs to refocus after two
initial pre-Olympic losses to Canada, a team the U.S. defeated for
April’s World Championships title.

NEHJ: After (a recent) 6-3 loss to Canada, you said,
“We’re going to ask a lot more out of our players and
we’re going to get a lot more.” What about that game
triggered that specific reaction for you?

Stone: I think our effort and
sense of urgency wasn’t at the place we needed it to be in
that game. We need to work on that. We needed to reprioritize our
priorities and focus on just hockey and what we are here to do.

NEHJ: How do you keep
the team motivated through the ups and downs of your game schedule,
especially when the games may not go the way you would
like?

Stone: During the lead-up, you
just have to keep working the plan that you have at the outset. You
have to keep working towards that goal. Through this, you have to
ask how do you work harder and smarter? It is important to focus on
hockey. You aren’t in school and this should be your
priority.

NEHJ: In your two games
thus far against Canada, Canada has jumped out to 3-0 and 2-0
leads. How do you work on coming out of the gate
faster?

Stone: Again, it is about the
mindset that we had early on. We can be better and ask more of each
other. We can ask others to step up.

NEHJ: How do you balance
the mix of newcomers to Olympic action with the veterans you
have?

Stone: I think if you are a
veteran, you are better at doing those little things, and playing a
more experienced game. You know what to expect, and we know what we
can expect from you. We count on them to play. For the rookies, we
ask them to go hard. We ask them to keep things simple and give all
they have. They will get the experience as they go.

NEHJ: Do you have a
favorite example of that mentorship between veteran and
newcomer?

Stone: Certainly the older the
kids are, the more experience they have in international play. They
can be a calming presence to the rookies, in addition to having
that experience.

NEHJ: What are the
strengths of your goaltending trio (Brianne McLaughlin, Molly
Schaus, Jessie Vetter), all of whom are returners to Olympic
competition?

Stone: I think all three are
very competitive. They have very different goaltending styles.
There is a healthy rivalry between them. It makes them more
competitive.

NEHJ: What are your
goals for the Four Nations Cup (Nov. 5-9 in Lake Placid,
N.Y.)?

Stone: To win! Ultimately, we
want to play well. We want to make the changes that we need to make
and play well against these teams.

NEHJ: How did you go
about choosing your schedule for the Bring On The World Tour and
your other pre-Olympic games?

Stone: My assistants, Hilary
Witt and Bobby Jay, have crafted a schedule that finds teams who
are physical and fast. They are teams at the level of the teams
that we will face in the Four Nations Cup and the Olympics, and
teams with aspects of play we want ourselves.

NEHJ: Has any of your
personal coaching philosophy changed since you have taken over the
national program?

Stone: It is different than
coaching a college team. Some girls have four-year careers, meaning
if it doesn’t happen for them this year, they may have a
sophomore, junior or senior year left. You don’t have that
here. There is an urgency to this year. You don’t have
another chance, at least not right away. They are not going to
school, and they get to focus on just hockey.

NEHJ: Is there anything
special you tell or anything special you do with the members of
your roster who are taking this year off from college? Do you
update their college coaches?

Stone: Not really, or at least,
not yet. We have only been working with them for a month and a half
at this point. It’s something to consider. They are working a
different system that what they are used to in college.

NEHJ: Some fear that
women’s hockey may be on the Olympic chopping block because
of the lack of competition. Do you think that this Olympic Games
may be able to dispel that?

Stone: Yeah, I honestly
don’t believe it is on the chopping block. It’s a
popular topic right now amongst a lot of people, but I don’t
think it will be dropped. International play is becoming much more
competitive. The United States and Canada have the greater
resources and they can make those incremental changes quicker than
other countries that may not have the same. But they are still
making changes and getting better. I’m not too worried about
it.

NEHJ: Do you think that
there are teams who may surprise at this Olympics, and who are
they?

Stone: There are a few teams. We
have seen them in the last two World Championships, in Switzerland
winning the bronze in 2012 and Russia winning the bronze in April.
It’s not just Finland and Sweden in that third spot anymore;
there is more competition. They have made a bigger commitment to
conditioning and training. They also have better goaltending in
more countries, which keeps them in games much longer. So I think
it will be more competitive.

NEHJ: You have mentioned
that this year, you are a fan of Harvard hockey instead of its
coach. With this demanding schedule, will you be able to catch any
games?

Stone: I’ll be able to
catch a few, depending on where they are. It’s always fun,
though it is a little weird to watch from the stands. I enjoy
watching, because it’s good hockey.